Confession
by Spring Zephyr
Summary: A generic highschool crush in a generic highschool setting... Do you really need to ask yourself how this is going to end? GreySkyShipping.


**This story is really generic, and written on a whim. It was also posted on a whim, because it's so generic I probably shouldn't have. I wanted to write something like this on a whim.**

**...Meanwhile, I'm working on things I absolutely will not post until after I can play the games in English.**

He had asked Hugh to meet him behind the school gymnasium, and then asked him to come alone so they could talk. At the time, that was the simplest way Kyouhei could think to do it - after all, the gymnasium was familiar, neutral territory.

Now, he was beginning to regret asking Hugh to come at all.

The gymnasium was almost always empty after school let out and practice was finished for the day, and Kyouhei was normally a direct, to-the-point kind of person who didn't like letting things stand in his way. This included potential eavesdroppers, but now he realized his own nerves were more defeating than the idea of someone listening in on him.

Having nothing to do but stand around and wait made him nervous until his hands were shaking and sweating.

Almost frantically, he looked at the watch strapped to his wrist several times per minute, until Hugh finally approached, ten minutes later than he should have been. Not wasting any time thinking about what excuses the other boy might have had for being so late - for racking up his anxiety like this - Kyouhei took a deep breath and thought about the numerous confessions he had spent the last few days rehearsing in front of his bedroom mirror.

Funny, how Kyouhei suddenly couldn't remember a single word of what he had practiced.

Three feet away, Hugh began to look concerned. Somehow being a protective older brother made him less conscience about expressing these sort of things. It didn't do much for Ebony in this case, except stir up a feeling that may have possibly been guilt.

Hugh was worrying about him. He'd been vague enough when he asked him here that Hugh couldn't have possibly known if he had anything to be worrying about.

It was entirely possible that he'd stop after he discovered what Kyouhei had to say to him.

"Dude... you feeling okay?"

"I... Sure I am!" Kyouhei replied, a voice full of false cheeriness. It was so obvious Hugh noticed immediately, frowning as Kyouhei struggled to continue, "Why... why wouldn't I be?"

Even Kyouhei knew he wasn't putting up a very good act. He suddenly regretted this whole charade, an overwhelming sense of hopelessness settling into his gut. His throat also felt dry and his tongue struggled to form words, and every fraction of common sense he had was screaming at him to stop before he did something stupid. Before he made a fool out of himself.

...Before he risked messing up his friendship with Hugh.

"Um, sorry, maybe I shouldn't have called you out here after all!" Kyouhei told him. That was the easiest thing he'd said since asking Hugh to meet him here at the end of fifth period. Excluding that conversation, he'd barely said three sentences.

"You asked me here at a specific time, saying you had something really important to tell me," Hugh reminded him. The look on his face seemed to relax as he realized it probably wasn't as urgent as Kyouhei had made it sound back then. "Evidently, it's nothing as drastic as your house burning down or your Pokemon being taken away, so tell me."

The stern edge in his voice was evident, and Kyouhei actually found himself flinching. This was, as Kyouehi himself had dubbed it, Hugh's "responsible older brother" voice, though it didn't apply to just his younger sister. Hugh used it whenever he meant business, as the other boy had learned over the years. When Hugh was acting like this, arms folded and eyes narrowed and using that tone with people, he expected to get answers.

In short, Hugh was firm and unrelenting, and sometimes he sounded impatient and forceful, but never without a reason.

...He reminded Kyouhei more of a parent than a potential boyfriend at this point, but perhaps that was why Kyouhei liked him so much. Everyone knew he had the tendency to over-react at times, and Hugh was one of the few people who could potentially keep him grounded. That was an attractive quality, not even counting how badly Kyouhei was attracted just to the way he looked.

"You had something to say to me, so just say it!" Hugh snapped, cutting into his reverie in that blunt way of his.

Kyouhei jumped a little, looking around reflexively.

"Could you just... not talk so loud?" he managed to squeak finally. "There was kind of a reason I... Look, I don't want this to get around, all right?"

Kyouhei had picked this area for a reason after all. He didn't expect anyone to stop by here at this hour, but he didn't want to risk attracting them either.

Slowly, Hugh began to recognize the urgency in Kyouhei's voice. It was more personal than the house-burnt-down or Pokemon-has-been-stolen confession he might have originally been expecting, with a side of secretiveness and shame. The tension in the dark-haired boy's shoulders relaxed a bit, and the look on his face softened.

"Is it really embarrassing to say?" he asked, in a much quieter and less demanding voice.

Gentle, even. For Kyouhei, Hugh somehow managed to sound gentle.

Kyouhei swore he could have started swooning right then. Hugh was really good at making ground, and getting to the bottom of things, and sometimes Kyouhei couldn't help but play right into his hands. Sometimes he wondered if Hugh knew this and purposely played it to his advantage.

"Um... you could say that. In a way... Yeah, it really is."

"You've given me more than one answer," Hugh pointed out.

"It... it is," Kyouhei clarified, swallowing nervously. "It's really embarrassing."

"And it couldn't have waited until we got home?" the other boy prodded.

That would have seemingly made more sense, but...

"I wanted to give you room to run in case you didn't want anything to do with me after I told you," Kyouhei admitted slowly. His explanation sounded cheesy to his own ears, and the words felt thick coming out of his mouth, like he didn't really want to say them, but he couldn't think of an excuse fast enough.

Somewhere along the way, Kyouhei had taken to staring at his feet and kicking at the dirt without realizing it. Speaking his mind reminded him to look at Hugh again, to check for a very important reaction. If Hugh reacted badly here, that was definitely a sign to make something up and run.

However, Hugh didn't appear fazed in the least. He shifted a little, and smiled in that way Kyouhei had always thought made him look like he knew something before everyone else did, but his cool demeanor remained.

"That bad, huh?" he teased.

"Uh, yeah..."

The small talk was gradually easing the tension in the air, making it easier for Kyouhei to form proper words again. Whether or not Kyouhei was aware that the other boy was the one directing this conversation now, Hugh considered himself an expert at needling information out of people.

It wasn't so much a confession as it was Hugh waiting for him to admit something at this point. On the other hand, Kyouhei was taking too long, and at this point it was time for him to start acting upon his own assumptions.

"Whatever it is, it can't be that bad," he assured Kyouhei. "We've been friends for how many years? Seriously, man, if I lived through your sixth grade burrito eating contest, I can live through anything you put me through."

"You just had to bring that up again!" Kyouhei snapped at him, an embarrassed flush jumping onto his face.

It was nice to see Kyouhei back to some semblance of his usual emotional, reacting vibrantly to everything, self. The unconfident speech, the way he'd been fidgeting and looking around nervously... None of that fit the boy very well.

But to get the conversation at the point where Hugh wanted it to be, he'd have to go back to being the uncertain Kyouhei for a moment longer.

Hugh chuckled in response. "But really, the worst you could do is tell me you have a crush on me."

For a moment, Kyouhei was completely frozen, anything he'd been feeling just seconds before vanishing completely, replaced by a slow-spreading chill. He was pretty sure his jaw had dropped, and that he was gaping at Hugh now.

'Way to make it obvious, Kyouhei...' he thought hatefully, hate directed entirely toward himself.

He had no idea how Hugh had guessed, but apparently there was no denying it now.

But Hugh still looked cheerful and friendly, and there was still the hint of a smile on his lips. He still looked at Kyouhei warmly, and not like he was disgusted by him or anything. He wasn't reacting badly at all.

There was still... a chance, Kyouhei realized slowly. He still had a chance!

"H-How did you know?" he asked.

Kyouhei desperately hoped he wasn't just reading the situation wrong, given how easily Hugh had made his last comment, in a manner that wasn't even entirely serious.

"It was completely obvious," Hugh bluntly informed him, and Kyouhei didn't even feel annoyed by how _obviously_ Hugh was at his distressed reaction. "And before you ask any questions that are equally obvious, yes, that means we're going out now."

BONUS:

"So how did you find out anyway?" Kyouhei asked later, over the enjoyment of a Castelia Cone with his new boyfriend.

For a moment, Hugh seemed reluctant to answer. Kyouhei wondered why.

"...Dude, you can only 'check someone's pockets for change' so many times before they start to suspect things."

***slaps self***

**Does it work this way in real life! What am I posting now!**

**I keep thinking I made it too convenient for them, but...**

**Like I said, writing on a whim.**

**Like a _boss_. **

**The change thing... I pulled that one from another fanfiction somewhere and decided to use it here as a gag.**

**...Don't try that in real life, because I suspect you'd get arrested for sexual harrassment.**


End file.
